End of generation at West Burton A
West Burton A closed at midnight on 31 March 2023, completing an agreement signed with National Grid ESO last year. The station and its workforce have fulfilled the request to have 400MW available through Winter 2022 to 2023 as an emergency standby option and from 1 April the whole station moved into full decommissioning.
The coal-fired power station in North Nottinghamshire has been a terrific servant for UK plc since 1966 (57 years) it has supplied electricity and a great debt of gratitude is owed to all the people that have worked there over the years. During its 57 years of operation, West Burton ran four 500MW units with a total generation of 491,792 GWh, which is enough to power 164 million houses for a year or every house in London for 44 years. The last Generation took place Tuesday 7 March 2023 with both remaining units (1 and 2) delivering the last of the station’s power to Grid.
Decommissioning will now take place at the West Burton A site, removing oil and fuel from the plant and terminating any power connections. Once this is complete by December 2023, the principal demolition contract partners will work on removing structures from the site until it is at ground level.
This is an end of an era with the site handing over the legacy of generation to the power of the future. The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) plan to build the UK’s first ever prototype fusion power station at West Burton.
About EDF
EDF is helping Britain achieve Net Zero by leading the transition to a cleaner, low emission, electric future and tackling climate change. It is the UK’s largest producer of low-carbon electricity(1) and supplies millions of customers with electricity and gas.
It generates low carbon electricity from five nuclear power stations and more than thirty onshore wind farms and two offshore wind farms.
EDF is leading the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C, and there are advanced plans for a replica at Sizewell C in Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes.
EDF is one of the UK’s largest investors in renewables, with more than 1.5GW of renewable generation in operation and almost 14GW in planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage. We are constructing our largest offshore wind farm in Britain – the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe project in Scotland.
EDF is helping its customers, both in business and at home, take their first steps to sustainably powering their lives. Whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing a heat pump. EDF is one of the largest suppliers to British business and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Dalkia, is one of the largest technical service providers in the UK and Ireland.
EDF is part of EDF Group, the world’s biggest electricity generator. In the UK, the company employs around 14,000 people at locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
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